The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp, and more particularly, to a vehicle lamp formed by integrating a lens and a lamp body, the outer surface of which is coated with a reflection layer.
Conventionally, a vehicle lamp for use with a motor vehicle or the like was fabricated by integrally forming a lamp body of the vehicle lamp and a (front) lens. The front lens passes light from a light source located within a lamp chamber of the lamp body and then radiates that light to the outside. Such vehicle lamps were made of a light permeable resin material and fabricated using a blow molding process or the like. In order to form a reflection layer for reflecting light from the light source, an immersion process referred to as xe2x80x9cdip brazingxe2x80x9d has been generally employed to coat the reflection layer on the inner surface of the lamp body. In the immersion process, the hole used to connect the light source, formed at the rear top portion of the lamp body, has been utilized as the opening through which the paint for immersion is filled. After immersing the entire lamp body such that the paint adheres to the inner surface thereof, the lamp body is lifted up and the adhered paint is dried to form the reflection layer.
Through the aforementioned process, the resultant reflection layer is formed on the side closest to the light source such that there is substantially no light loss due to the influence of the lamp body member. The resultant reflection layer, therefore, is considered as being preferable because the layer can efficiently reflect the light emitted from the light source.
When integrating the lens and the lamp body, however, the inner surface of the lamp body becomes substantially closed by the lens and the lamp body member. Therefore, in order to form the reflection layer by coating the inner surface of the lamp body, the aforementioned dip brazing process necessitates steps and a structure which are complex and troublesome. Thus, such processes require improvement, and technology for forming the reflection layer on the outer side of the transparent lamp body has gathered attention.
When forming the reflection layer on the outer side of the lamp body, it is necessary to cope with various problems. In particular, damage or peeling of the reflection layer is likely to occur due to abutment against tools during attachment to the vehicle. Moreover, it is desirable to maximize the reflectance of the reflection layer corresponding to the light from the light source reaching the reflection layer via the lamp body member. The problems concerning peeling of the reflection layer and improving the reflectance of the reflection layer have been obstacles preventing vehicle lamps formed by integrating the lens and the lamp body from being popular in the market.
The present invention provides a vehicle lamp having a lens and a lamp body integrated so as to be suitable for practical application. A reflection layer is formed on the outer side of the lamp body that can be effectively protected. The reflection layer is structured so as to improve the light reflectance, and may be formed with a protection film on the outer side of the reflection layer.
A vehicle lamp formed by integrally molding a lens and a lamp body through a blow molding process using a light permeable synthetic resin material is presented. A reflection layer for reflecting the radiated light emitted from a light source located within the lamp body to the forward of the lamp body is coated onto the outer surface of the lamp body. Since the reflection layer is coated onto the outer surface of the lamp body, the reflection layer forming step for producing a vehicle lamp having an integrated lens and lamp body is simplified.
Implementations of the invention may include one or more of the following features. A surface layer of the reflection layer may be coated with a protection film layer. Such a protective film prevents the reflection layer formed on the outer side of the lamp body from being damaged or peeled due to abutment against tools during assembly to the vehicle, and serves to improve weather resistance. The reflection layer may be formed of an aluminum paint. The aluminum pigment contained in the reflection layer reflects light formed from the light source to the inner side of the lamp body. A reflection surface may be formed by depositing an aluminum powder as a pigment blended with the aluminum paint on the outer surface of the lamp body. In this case, the reflection surface is formed by aluminum powder deposited on the outer surface of the lamp body member rather than being dispersed or suspended within the reflection layer. Therefore, the light admitted through the lamp body member can be immediately reflected, thus reducing light loss. The aluminum powder may be formed of thin flake-shaped aluminum pieces. The thin flake-shaped aluminum pieces may be oriented and deposited on the outer surface of the lamp body. The result is a uniform and smooth reflection surface that minimizes light scattering, thus improving the reflectance of the reflection layer.